When I first started reading about Operation Choke Point, I wasn’t even sure it was real. Or perhaps it was real but egregiously exaggerated.<\/p>\n
The more I read, the more ominous the future looks.<\/p>\n
The great Maggie McNeill has an excellent overview<\/a>. (H\/T S.)<\/p>\n David Codrea covered it with an eye to its effect on gun rights<\/a>. Then came back again for a broader look<\/a>.<\/p>\n My worries are broader yet. Covert ostracism of groups of people — any group of peaceable people — starts a dangerous (to the point of deadly) trend. Covert ostracism by private corporations at the direction of government is fascism (and I don’t use that term in any figurative or overblown way; that’s one normal function of the corporate-government partnership that’s the definition and essence of fascism). <\/p>\n Covert ostracism as a tool of government for getting its way when it can’t get its way through open law-spewing is … a big, big step on the path to destruction. Of trust. Of human decency. Of the concept of equal protection under law (never mind that equal protection has always been a myth; even a myth can have a civilizing purpose). Of civil society. Of so many valuable things.<\/p>\n Yeah, we’re already on that path. I know. But once you start shutting masses of peaceable people and businesses out of normal commerce, you create pariahs. You don’t drive them out of business; you merely drive them … elsewhere. You also drive them to be something other than what they are.<\/p>\n And like so many other attempts to force some governmental ideal of “morality” on people, you end up driving immorality.<\/p>\n Of course, you also create Freedom Outlaws. So the ostracism promised by Operation Choke Point (and its inevitable successors) wouldn’t be a total loss. But OCP is both a sign of and an “advance” upon the irreplaceable loss of all that makes civilization worthy of the name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I first started reading about Operation Choke Point, I wasn’t even sure it was real. Or perhaps it was real but egregiously exaggerated. The more I read, the more ominous the future looks. The great Maggie McNeill has an excellent overview. (H\/T S.) David Codrea covered it with an eye to its effect on gun rights. Then came back again for a broader look. My worries are broader yet. Covert ostracism of groups of people — any group of peaceable people — starts a dangerous (to the point of deadly) trend. Covert ostracism by private corporations at the direction…<\/p>\n